


Against the Odds

by laurelofthestory



Category: Spiral Knights
Genre: Doomed Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Pre-Canon, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-18
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-09-30 04:31:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17217035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laurelofthestory/pseuds/laurelofthestory
Summary: He has a mission to fulfill, but the odds of success are terribly slim.She reminds him that not everything in this world comes down to probability.





	Against the Odds

**Author's Note:**

> So this was technically written back in August, but was only shared with a couple of friends because we were headcanoning about the Alpha Squad. There's a lot more to our whole shared canon, but I just felt like writing some fluff. I took Vaelyn's dialogue about Rulen to imply they had a romantic relationship and, well, I got invested. May not be my best work, but this section needs more stuff.
> 
> Technically for SassyDragon and Buraidragon (who may or may not have an ao3)

They said that those knights like them whose escape pods had landed in or near Haven, who hadn’t broken through the crust from force and ended up in the deeper parts of the strange world below the surface, were the lucky ones. They didn’t have to fight for their lives waiting for the rest of the Order to figure out how to go about sending in rescue teams. The Strangers were kind, if eccentric, and the knights on the surface were guaranteed food, shelter, and safety.

Rulen, however, did not believe in luck.

And if he did, he would certainly not refer to himself as one of the _lucky ones,_ all things considered.

The outskirts of Haven were quiet at this time of night, with the knights of the Spiral Order getting their rest when they could. The unfamiliar moon cast a bright, pale blue glow on the planet’s surface, and he could hear the sounds of strange night insects and animals making the rounds outside of this corner of safety from the unknown. He was sitting on a grassy ridge overlooking the garrison, fidgeting a bit in place--the outdoors had never been his favorite, and the lack of the comforting hum of computers and machinery made him uneasy.

But it was away from prying eyes, she liked the wilds, and he was willing to meet her halfway.

Things had been busy in the days since the Skylark’s crash, and they’d barely gotten any chance to talk; she was busy making sure her team was accounted for, while he’d spent most of his time with the other techs at the crash site trying to find out what it was that had gone so horribly wrong. It wasn’t the first time they’d spent a while unable to talk alone, but with the recent news Rulen had received, he’d insisted they see each other again in private, and soon.

Rulen counted two and a half minutes since he’d arrived when he heard her boots crunching in the grass nearby.

“Sorry I’m late.”

Vaelyn’s tone was only half teasing as she sat down next to him, pulling off her helmet and resting it in her lap, setting her tight violet curls free. The faint twitching of Rulen’s hands stilled as she shot him a half smile, idly trailing her fingers along the long feather attached to the back of the helmet. 

“And here I thought the Spiral Order’s newest lieutenant valued punctuality,” Rulen replied dryly, getting a snort out of Vaelyn.

“Hey, you wouldn’t _believe_ how hard they’re working me, and the recruits are driving me up the wall.”

“ _You’re_ handling recruits? That’s funny, I assumed they'd put them all on the tech team.”

Vaelyn covered her mouth, but he could hear her laughing and smirked in triumph. Her laughing was a rare thing--to anyone but him, of course. That didn’t make it any less precious.

The two of them lapsed into a comfortable silence, staring up at the new stars overhead as if each were trying to make some sense of them. 

He felt her hand slip onto his. “In all seriousness, how are you holding up?”

“Adequately.” She gave him a reproachful look he knew well, and he relented, “I’ve been better.”

“You’re not blaming yourself for a malfunction caused by a _ground-to-air attack,_ are you?”

Rulen shook his head. “No, no, not exactly, though if we ever do get the ship up and running again I am _making_ them install a better defense system on that tearium core.”

“So then what is it?”

Rulen pressed his lips together, ducking his head as if trying to hide inside his own helmet.

_“Rulen.”_ Her tone was severe, but not harsh. “I know you wanted to see me for a reason.” More silence. He felt her lift her hand to rest it on the side of his helmet. “Look at me.” 

He obeyed, and she reached out her other hand, unlocking the fasteners on his cap and gently lifting it off. She set aside the helmet and reached for his hands, which he gratefully took, their gazes locked.

“It’s just us. You can tell me.”

Rulen hesitated. “...Everything’s too _new_.”

Vaelyn chuckled quietly, lowering her head. “I thought it might be something like that. You know I feel the same way. I don’t like this, either.”

“The technology on this planet is so _different,_ and yet they expect me to know everything about it already. The tech team wants me to _lead_ them. I don’t _lead,_ I don’t _want_ to _lead._ ”

She squeezed his hands. “I know. If I could do it for you, I would, but alien tech or not you probably already understand it better than I do.”

Rulen let out a long sigh, lowering his head. What he’d _actually_ meant to tell her was like a massive weight on his shoulders, one he knew would only grow heavier once he said it. Logically, he knew he was only delaying the inevitable, that it was better if he just told her rather than waiting until the last minute.

“There’s something else.”

As always, she could read him like a book. He met her eyes again.

“You’re not going to like it.”

“Tell me anyway.”

Rulen hesitated again, thinking, sorting out the thoughts into coherent words before he dared speak. She waited, patient as ever, still holding his hands.

When he did speak, it was in a clinical monotone, betrayed by the guilt in his eyes.

“Captain Ozlo contacted me this afternoon. He is organizing a team of knights to be the first to enter the so-called ‘Clockworks’ under Cradle to document them and search for the power source picked up on the scans. He wants me there on tech.”

He heard Vaelyn give a sharp inhale through her nose. Her expression didn’t change, though she gripped his hands just the slightest bit tighter.

“...I see,” she said, nodding once, “Who else is on the team, do you know?”

“Well, there’s _Euclid_ , for one.” Judging by the way Vaelyn’s eyebrows shot up, no further identification was needed. ”Then we have a veteran oath-bound Guardian, and the recon prodigy who broke the academy’s training sims.”

Silence again, this time thick and anxious. The weight threatened to crush him, but he refused to allow it.

“...You don’t want to go.”

“I don’t want to go.”

Vaelyn turned fully to face him, scooting in closer, and Rulen did the same. “But this isn’t the kind of mission you can say no to, huh?” Vaelyn continued, resigned.

Rulen shook his head. “And I do _want_ to study whatever caused that powerful a signal, but…” He trailed off with a grunt, his words failing him. Her eyes were full of understanding, and she reached up to brush his cheek with her gloved fingertips as she waited for more.

“...I don’t want you to worry,” Rulen continued eventually.

Vaelyn let out a harsh bark of a laugh, dropping her hand. “Well, tough luck, because I’m going to worry either way, so you might as well just give it to me straight.”

“I’ve run the numbers, several times.” Rulen tried to keep up his emotionless tone, but there was a clear waver under his words. “This is a highly dangerous mission into an unknown territory full of hostile creatures, including many we’d be encountering for the first time. The probability of any of us returning alive is...very low.”

“I understand.”

“And I don’t know why it has to be _me_ of all people.”

“Because you’re one of the brightest techs of our generation.”

“Yeah, the perfect _sacrifice._ ”

“Hey, stop that.” Vaelyn put both hands on his shoulders, forcing him to keep looking at her. “Facts might be facts, but try not to project. You know the Captain wouldn’t willingly throw any of us into the fire if he didn’t think we had a chance.”

Rulen opened his mouth to try and respond, but could not find an argument. Captain Ozlo seemed to see the entire Order as a kind of family, somehow, despite its size.

“Tell me, what are the odds of _any_ of us being alive right now, after that crash?”

“...Very low.”

“Exactly.” Her eyes narrowed and sparked with triumph. “From what I know about you and what little I know about those others, as much as you like your statistics, you guys have done nothing but give _the odds_ the middle finger, because that’s what _all_ of us do, and have done, and will continue doing. We wouldn’t have gotten this far if _the odds_ had their way. We’re all too damn stubborn to let that happen. I’m not gonna tell you it isn’t a dangerous mission or that there isn’t risk because lying isn’t gonna change the facts. But I _will_ tell you that I believe you can make the best of whatever happens. Understood?”

Rulen didn’t respond. He couldn’t. He didn’t trust himself to and didn’t know what he wanted to say. But apparently, his silence meant more than his clumsy words could ever convey. As pessimistic as he was, when she got _that_ tone in her voice, when she gave him and the rest of the world that _look_ of challenge...he could almost believe in it.

There was a fire in Vaelyn that had always drawn him to her--a cold fire fueled by the logic that governed his world, but a fire nonetheless. It led to this push and pull they had, it led to her being the only one able to challenge the myriad thoughts in his mind and _win._

The weight on him was still there, but she certainly looked like she was fully capable of, or at least willing to _try_ to throw it off of him.

“...When are you leaving?” she asked, more softly now.

“Two days. I wasn’t supposed to say anything yet.”

“I’m glad you did.”

Her grip tightened on his shoulders and he felt her tugging him forward. And all at once, he was leaning into her chest with her arms wrapped around him, her chin resting on top of his buzzed hair.

Rulen’s groan of frustration was muffled by her coat, though he didn’t try to pull away. “Lyn, _really?_ ”

“Yes, really. No one’s looking, let me have this.”

Rulen gave a sigh, though she could likely feel the rise and fall of his shoulders with his quiet laughter. “Very professional.”

“It’s only unprofessional if you get caught.” He felt her lips brushing against his forehead, and her hand rubbing circles into his back. He shut his eyes and relaxed into her, and this time, the silence felt warm and smelled of the leather of her coat.

His thanks did not need to be spoken aloud.

“...I’ll be coming down after you as soon as I can, Rue--whatever it takes,” Vaelyn murmured, “You know that, right? I’ll see you there.”

Rulen smiled, wide and genuine and safely hidden against her.

“Not if I see you first.”

  
  



End file.
